


A Story to Tell

by whatisreggieshortfor



Category: Bob's Burgers (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Feelings Realization, Getting Together, Love Confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-19 11:22:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29998605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatisreggieshortfor/pseuds/whatisreggieshortfor
Summary: Tina and Zeke hang out at the end of junior year in high school, and she realizes something he’s been trying to tell her for years.
Relationships: Tina Belcher/Zeke (Bob's Burgers)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	A Story to Tell

**Author's Note:**

  * For [justyrae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/justyrae/gifts).



Tina had assumed that when she reached high school Jimmy Jr would finally take her feelings seriously. But as they reached the end of junior year, she realized it wasn’t going to happen. It didn’t hurt as much as she thought though, when he called them off again. She had just turned sixteen, and she knew that she no longer felt what she used to. Sure, Jimmy Jr was one of her best friends, and one of the only boys to pay attention to her at all, but he didn’t make her heart feel like it pooped it’s pants anymore. And that was okay. They were still friends, and she had stopped being so hostile with Zeke by the end of eighth grade when she realized that it wasn’t him she was competing with for Jimmy Jr’s attention. It was that Jimmy Jr was always fighting for Zeke’s attention, but the larger boy always split his attention evenly with whoever was around. He even paid attention to Tina, actually listening to her. And that was nice. When she realized he wasn’t her rival for Jimmy Jr, they actually became best friends.

A month after he called it off, Tina didn’t want to bother her siblings with the drama that was Jimmy Jr anymore. Louise was still busy torturing Logan whenever he showed his face in town during breaks at college, and Tina figured Gene was right. They would reconnect in their thirties and get married. And Gene was busy with music, starting to learn to really play by hanging out after school at Wagstaff with Miss Merkin. So when school let out one day, she decided to take a walk by herself.

Finding herself walking along the pier near Wonder Wharf wasn’t a surprise, it always helped her think things through. Growing up, she had convinced herself that she was going to have a huge love story. Meet a boy early and have that love that exceeds the limits of time. But because of what she imagined, she had tried to force that idea on Jimmy Jr. The boy that, while her friend, only liked her more than platonically when she was interested in someone else, or when he didn’t have someone else he liked himself.

She spent most of high school so far by herself. Not that she didn’t have friends, her parents finally bought her a phone when high school started and she texted all the time. She just didn’t have classes with most of them. Zeke was the one she saw the least but texted with the most, he had decided to take up sports to help with his boundless energy, and they didn’t have a single class together.

Just as she was pulling her phone out to check on him, a voice called her name, sort of, “Hey-o T-bird!” Tina turned around, a smile already pulling at her lips at the familiar nickname.

“Zeke, I was about t-“ before she could finish the sentence, a familiar pair of large arms wrapped around her midsection and lifted her off the ground.

“Ah, it’s good ta see ya girl!” As he set her down, he turned his head the other way, yelling to the other football players that he’d see them later. One of the guys yelled something back about being whipped and Zeke grinned, “Yeah, she’s more important than you butt wads! I’ll see ya later!” He hooked an arm around her shoulders and steered her away but the guys kept yelling. Her stomach was doing flips when she realized he wasn’t pulling his arm away. But Tina couldn’t focus on that. Her mind stuck on him calling her important. Aside from her family, no one ever said that. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, she didn’t realize he was talking. She shook her head to clear them.

“I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

Zeke chuckled, but there was no judgement in it. There never was. “I asked how ya were holdin’ up. I know J Ju’ called it quits again. That boy can’t seem ta do right by ya.”

Tina laughed to herself, “Honestly? I’m great. I think it’s best if we leave it as friends from now on.”

“Really T-Bee?” Zeke’s brows furrowed together as he gave her a concerned look, “Ya don’t gotta pretend ta be strong for me, girl. Ya know I’m behind ya no matter what. Ya have always been in love with J Ju’.”

“I know, Zeke. But seriously, I’m okay. I think somewhere along the way, the intensity of my feelings died out. We’re still friends, and that’s fine.” She smiled brighter than she had in months. Being around Zeke just put her at ease. But she had a question. “Why’d you leave your friends to hang out with me?”

Zeke looked a little taken aback, “Whatcha mean, T-Bird? Yer, like, ma best friend. I feel like I haven’t seen ya in ages. I’d rather hang with you than those knuckleheads.” He grinned, wide and happy, and she couldn’t help but smile back. They fell into a comfortable silence.

Tina took the first time in months to really look at Zeke. He used to be shorter than her, which was normal to her. She was taller than all the girls in their class, but he’d grown. He was probably an inch or two taller than her now, and he’d bulked up from football. His mullet had been shaved down on the sides, giving him more of a Mohawk than anything. She admitted to herself that he looked good. And then she felt her stomach flip again. _Oh_. She knows what that feeling is. She’s had it enough to recognize it as they sit at the end of the pier, staring out at the waves. He finally dropped his arm, and she couldn’t help but miss the warmth.

“You know, I was literally pulling my phone out to text you when you screamed my name.” She finally said, bumping her shoulder against his.

“I’m touched, T-Bird.” Zeke made a show of putting his hand to his heart, smiling when Tina let out a chuckle.

“I just feel like I never see you anymore. I’m busy at the restaurant, and you have practice.”

“Yeah,” Zeke sighed, “I signed up fer a writin’ class, thinking maybe we would see each other there. But I guess I didn’t think to check if ya signed up for it first.”

“I almost did. But after the erotic friend fiction incident, I decided against it.”

Zeke smiled at the memory, “Yeah, you were prolly tha bravest person I’d ever seen that day. Hell, ya always are, T. I don’t know how ya do it.”

Tina felt her face burn. She knew Zeke, he never lied to her. If he said something, it was how he really felt. “You always say things that make me seem better than I am.” She muttered quietly.

“Not possible.” Zeke grinned, “Ya deserve tha world, girl.”

Tina shook her head, but a small smile played on her lips and Zeke took it as a win. “You remember in middle school when we stole the mascot costume?”

“Are ya kiddin’ me? Course I remember! I’m telling ya, that story will be told at our wedding.” He said, turning his head to aim his grin her way, and her stomach flipped and settled at the same time.

“Our wedding, huh?” She mused, “Don’t we need to date first for that?”

Zeke shrugged, “I’ve been waiting on ya fer years now, T. I can wait some more.” That caught Tina’s attention, and she turned to look at him. _Really_ look at him. She could see the sincerity in his eyes, and the nervous way his fingers tapped against his knees as he tried to play it cool. She needed to ask.

“You always say stuff like that. Is that really how you feel? Or is it a joke that you just kept up?”

Zeke blinked, his smiling fading. Tina didn’t like that it went away. “Ya think I been jokin’ all these years? I’m crazy about ya, girl. I thought it was obvious by now.” Tina shook her head.

“It’s not. At least not to me. But I’ve been told I’m not the best at picking up signals.”

“Now who told ya that?” Zeke looked annoyed.

“Jimmy Jr, mostly. Tammy sometimes.”

“Well, ta be honest with ya, Tammy is just mean spirited, so don’t pay attention ta what she says to ya. And J Ju’, I love him and all but he never deserved ya. Couldn’t treat ya how he shoulda.” Zeke shook his head, looking back at the water.

“I think I just prefer when people tell me things straight out.” Tina admitted. “I know I don’t understand sarcasm a lot, and I miss subtle hints. So if someone laughs at all when they say something to me, I just assume they’re kidding. And you laugh a lot when you talk, so I guess I just never took it seriously. I could’ve saved so much time.” She muttered the last part quietly, but Zeke heard it.

“What d’ya mean, T-Bird?”

“I mean...” Tina took a deep breath, turning to face her best friend, “I mean I like you.” His entire face lit up, and her insides felt warm and melty. “I’m sorry I didn’t get it before, and I couldn’t tell you when it started. But I know what I feel.” Absentmindedly, she wondered when the first time she had ever entertained the idea of him being a romantic partner had happened, cause now it seemed so obvious. He was always trying to make her feel better or trying to help. He was the first one to volunteer to go with Gene on his journey over Route Six to see the two butted goat. He had explicitly detailed a date he wanted to take her on in the hedge maze, even if at the time he had only said it because she was pointing a water balloon at him, he still had it planned. Hell, he became the Mad Pooper for her.

Zeke looked hopeful, but she could see the hesitation in his eyes, “Are ya sure about this, T?”

Tina nodded, carefully taking his hand that sat between them, and feeling her insides melt more when he didn’t pull away. “I’m sure, Zeke. I just- can we take it slow? If you want to do this, I mean.”

“Course, girl. I ain’t gonna make ya do nothin’ ya don’t wanna.” They shared soft smiles before Tina leaned her head against Zeke’s shoulder. They watched the sun set before Zeke insisted he walk her home, even though she kept telling him they were sixteen and she could walk herself. He said his grandma would kill him if she found out he let her walk alone. Truthfully, she thought it was sweet. It was something she’d seen in movies but wasn’t used to herself.

“If you felt this way for so long, why were always cheering for me and Jimmy Jr?”

Zeke made a noise in the back of his throat, “J Ju’ has been ma best friend since I moved here. And honestly I jus’ wanted ya ta be happy. Even if it wasn’t with me. And then I couldn’t tell him how much of an ass he was bein’, because it seemed like it wasn’t my place.”

“I think I was trying to convince myself that being with him is what would make me happy.” Tina muttered, “But when I think about all the times I actually had fun with Jimmy Jr, you were always there, too. So maybe it wasn’t being around him that made me happy.” When they got to her front door, she leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to Zeke’s cheek, smiling to herself when a blush covered his face. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Zeke.”

“I’ll see ya tomorrow, T-Bird.” He smiled, pressing a kiss to her cheek as well before heading home.

They agreed to tell Jimmy Jr together, not wanting to hide their new relationship from their best friend. Senior year was a little hard, she was still busy working, and he still had his practices, but she went to every game he had, and they would have a date night together every other Saturday.

And a few years from that day at the pier, Zeke did tell the mascot story at their wedding, to which his new bride smiled and told everyone the Mad Pooper story. He wasn’t even embarrassed, knowing that that story was really how she knew his feelings were true all that time.


End file.
